The Handmaid's Tale Analysis

Was caused by assassination and his Genetic Impairment. I believe that King Tut was assassinated by his successor, because of the research and evidence that was found. His Genetic impairment would make it that much easier to kill King Tut.

With all the chaos present in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, there is a central point at which the novel revolves around: Hester Prynne’s sin. Because of her adulterous actions, she is mocked by both modern and Puritan society. It is through her character as an adulteress that D.H. Lawrence scorns and evaluates Hester Prynne’s flaws through his use of brief diction, sarcastic tone, and biblical allusions.

Paula Hawkins, a well-known British author, once said, “I have lost control over everything, even the places in my head.” In Margaret Atwood’s futuristic dystopia The Handmaid’s Tale, a woman named Offred feels she is losing control over everything in her life. Offred lives in the Republic of Gilead. A group of fundamentalists create the Republic of Gilead after they murder the President of the United States and members of Congress. The fundamentalists use the power to their advantage and restrict women’s freedom. As a result, each woman is assigned a specific duty to perform in society. Offred’s husband and child are taken away from her and she is now forced to live her life as a Handmaid. Offred’s role in society is to produce a child

“Waste not, want not. I am not being wasted. Why do I want?” (Atwood 7). From stealing butter for lotion to playing Scrabble with the Commander, plainly, Offred is unorthodox. The Republic of Gilead controls how much knowledge each caste is allowed; this is one way of controlling people and keeping order. Despite being condemned to this society and commanded not to read, Offred reads anyways. Offred’s actions show her dislike of

When Gilead first came to fruition, they made sure women didn’t have the right to hold a bank account or own property, “any account with an F on it instead of an M. All they needed to do is push a few buttons. We’re cut off (Atwood, 2016).” The people in charge of Gilead knew a person can be independent as long as they have their own money. Without money the women were hopeless, and it was easier to subdue them and round them up to turn them into Handmaids, Marthas or Econowives. While Offred is forced to become a Handmaid for The Commander, she is still in a place of power.

On a two-page spread a paragraph begins ‘I’m running with her, holding her hand, pulling, dragging her through the bracken,’ and the next paragraph begins ‘the bell wakes me; and then Cora, knocking at my door.’ In just two paragraphs Offred is in two mind-sets. The tension in the first paragraph is much greater than the second, especially due to the pace and countless use of verbs: ‘I think about her drowning this slows me down,’ and ‘dry branch snapping’ also ‘there’s breath and the knocking of my heart, like pounding.’ These actions of ‘drowning’ and ‘snapping’ are unheard of in Gilead which makes this an outrageous though, particularly of a handmaid. The instructions of a handmaid are to be impregnated by Commanders for ‘the population levels to increase’ and not much else. Atwood’s intention of putting this paragraph in would be to juxtapose the reality of what could happen on a normal day to a day in Gilead, by using time

The constant paranoia of being caught creates a cycle of fear, and causes people to turn against one and other. This constant surveillance is seen in Offred’s meeting with Nick. “Perhaps it is a test to see what I would do. Perhaps he is an eye.” This mixed with the apparent bible propaganda holds as a powerful way to police Gilead. More fundamentalist people are more likely to watch the others for mistakes. The bible is an important factor in controlling Gilead, and by using it as a weapon to enforce a dystopic government, the novel becomes more realistic and possible. The bible is used to dictate the lives of all the characters, from small greetings of the Handmaids and the biblical names of the shops, to

This particular discussion between Offred and Ofglen aids immensely in the development of the character of the latter. Ofglen, who had previously, seemingly been a very pious handmaid, devoted to the culture of the Republic of Gilead develops into a mutinous member of a rebel group within Gilead. It also helps the reader in envisioning the setting of the novel. Ofglen speaks of mikes which, the reader can only assume, are placed throughout the homes, businesses and streets of Gilead to investigate for ‘non-believers’. Additionally, the passage aids the reader in discovering that few people of Gilead are actual believers, as Ofglen says there are more like her, that defy Gilead’s beliefs.

In Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Offred recounts the story of her life and that of others in Gilead, but she does not do so alone. The symbolic meanings found in the dress code of the women, the names/titles of characters, the absence of the mirror, and the smell and hunger imagery aid her in telling of the repugnant conditions in the Republic of Gilead. The symbols speak with a voice of their own and in decibels louder than Offred can ever dare to use. They convey the social structure of Gileadean society and carry the theme of the individual's loss of identity.

Offred, not her real name but the name given to her by her occupation, is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. The Republic of Gilead is a

The Handmaid's Tale, a film based on Margaret Atwood’s book depicts a dystopia, where pollution and radiation have rendered innumerable women sterile, and the birthrates of North America have plummeted to dangerously low levels. To make matters worse, the nation’s plummeting birth rates are blamed on its women. The United States, now renamed the Republic of Gilead, retains power the use of piousness, purges, and violence. A Puritan theocracy, the Republic of Gilead, with its religious trappings and rigid class, gender, and racial castes is built around the singular desire to control reproduction. Despite this, the republic is inhabited by characters who would not seem out of place in today's society. They plant flowers in the yard, live in suburban houses, drink whiskey in the den and follow a far off a war on the television. The film leaves the conditions of the war and the society vague, but this is not a political tale, like Fahrenheit 451, but rather a feminist one. As such, the film, isolates, exaggerates and dramatizes the systems in which women are the 'handmaidens' of today's society in general and men in particular.

One of the many prevailing themes in literature is that power is gained and can be manipulated when restraints are placed on natural desires of the individual. This passage is significant because it is an example of this theme, for it shows how power and manipulation have completely changed and restricted the people, especially women, of Gilead. Due to this, the passage reveals the shared anger that the Handmaids possess, and the cruelty that has been brought upon the society. The use of similes, diction, syntax, and illustrate the impact that this event had on Offred, for she feels such anger towards the unknown man and the crime he has supposedly committed. These literary and rhetorical devices additionally serve to make this event seem as

Freedom to and freedom from” (pg.24). The state of mind that she carries is from an Aunt who is supposed to teach and console Offred who was back then becoming a Handmaid. Aunt Lydia is one of the people in the book who believe that their rights in Gilead are a blessing and should not be underestimated. Ms. Atwood's use of language for the Aunt in the novel is seen to be a concern parental figure who Offred uses constantly to remind herself in her head what is expected of a handmaid. She uses this voice to reconnect the Aunts teachings to her daily life in trying not to think of her freedom that she use to to have in her own home. This would tie into a nostalgic feel in use of language for the narrator because she remembers her old life and needs a sense of reassurance of what she has now. As of what she has now is not much but her sanity which is even up for question because of the lack of self control she has on herself. Even time can’t be measured in the society of Gilead so they only have bells to function on what time of day it is, this meaning she does not really have much but her own imagination and somewhat of logical thinking. Not her way of thinking of course but the way of thinking she has to respond in if she wants to

A genuine identity and individuality is not possible in an oppressive environment especially when one’s daily life, actions, and thoughts are dictated by domineering societal expectations. Oppressive environments such as regimes controlled by a dictatorship and that run off a totalitarian government system strip an individual of their civil rights as a human being in order to gain ultimate control over its citizens. A government such as the Republic of Gilead in Margaret Atwood’s work, The Handmaid’s Tale, controls their citizen’s lives to the extent to where they must learn to suppress their emotions and feelings. In the Republic of

Offred, within the novel, is seen as being in one of the lowest classes within the hierarchy of women only putting her above the women who are sent to the colonies. Unlike the handmaids, the Martha, who are helping ladies to the Wives, talk about Offred like she is not in their present but viewed her as “a household chore,one among many”(Atwood 48). Although the Martha are women too, they have more control than Offred. By viewing Offred as a household chore conveys that Offred is an inconvenience but still a necessary part of Gilead. Speaking about Offred like this emphasizes that she is below them in the status of society and they are not seen as equals. In addition, Offred, being a handmaid, wasn’t allow to talk to the Wives in a direct manner (Atwood 14-15). By Offred not being allowed to talk to the Wives illustrates that the Wives authority over the handmaids. Furthermore, the handmaid’s are viewed as less and “[reduced]... to the slavery status of being mere ‘breeders’” (Malak). By conveying the handmaids are slaves shows are they force without consent to have sex with men and that the handmaid focus is to breed, unlike the Martha, aunts, and Wives. Moreover, the class system within the female hierarchy of Gilead is utilized as a political tool thus adding to the assumption